


the reaper

by SKZplayer



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Chan is a sweetheart, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Grim Reapers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27029242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SKZplayer/pseuds/SKZplayer
Summary: Seo Changbin is a lonely ghost who holds old attachments, and overwhelming feelings. Chan is a grim reaper, who’s determined to set this lonely ghost free, and lead him onto the next life.(inspired by ex)
Relationships: Bang Chan/Seo Changbin
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52





	the reaper

**Author's Note:**

> a short piece I wrote on a whim to release some tension. I had a very vivid idea of what I wanted the feeling of this piece to be, and I hope I wrote it well enough the express what I imagined. Anyways, hope you enjoy.

Chan sighs, looking at the large apartment building in front of him. Its not a sigh of exasperation, but one of wishing. He so badly wants to complete his task, a forgotten life depends on it. 

In this house, lives a lonely ghost. He’s not scary from what Chan has heard, he doesn’t seek revenge on anyone, he just seems a bit sad. They say he’s attached to the home, and they can’t sell or do anything with it until the ghost leaves. 

Many reapers have come to this location in hopes they can lead the ghost onto the next life, but they all come out empty handed. None of them have even figured out the poor boys name. So they finally called up Chan, since he’s one of the best in his field. 

Thats because Chan doesn’t see his work as a job, he doesn’t try to get the ghosts to move on in hopes of making others happy. He does this because he knows the pain and longing for something better, the bitterness that these attached ghosts feel. He wants them to find their way and be happy, just like he did. 

He’s not doing this so the owners of the home can finally sell it, so they can be happy. He’s doing this to set a lost soul free. 

Its a lovely day this afternoon, birds chirping, bugs cricketing in the trees and grass, blue skies with a light breeze, the sound of leaves rustling in the tall trees above him. 

The man takes in a deep breath of the cool air, feeling it fill his lungs in a calming manner. With new found calmness, and a warmness in his chest, Chan walks towards to door.

Its a dark oak wood, trimmed a lighter brown around the edges. He opens it gently, hearing it creak just slightly on its hinges.

Theres a flight of stairs that greets him, long, surrounded by clean white walls. His black boots echo gently off the soft colored walls, the man taking his time to admire the small paintings, and cute, well placed interior design around him.

When he reaches the top, he’s greeted by a clean, large living room. A soft colored coach sits against the wall, a small coffee table standing in front of it. A large glass pane stretches across the wall past the couch, showing the lush garden behind the house. 

Chan smiles, his legs immediately taking him to look out the window. Breathtaking.

Green shrubbery with blue and purple flowers still in bloom. A large glassy clearing with a path of trees off to the side. He can imagine how lively it would’ve been had the boy still been alive, running to his hearts content in that field, picking flowers and tending to his garden.

“I can start to see why you don’t want to go, my friend.” Chan whispers gently to himself, eyes scanning over the area one last time, before slowly turning. There are things that need to be done, but that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate the beauty around him. People always tell him he’s easily distracted, but he sees it as he just appreciates everything around him. He wants to explore, admire everything he can. He’ll get to his task when he needs to. 

The reaper continues to walk around, searching for the reason he came here. He was told the person who lurks is extremely shy. But thats ok, Chan thinks to himself, he can find a way to get to him. 

Chan walks down another hall, finding more small paintings, and most curiously, a thing of blue paint. The man picks it up gently, examining it for a second. Acrylic, half way full. He sets it back down with a hum, maybe he likes art. Judging by the multiple blue paintings on the walls, thats probably accurate. The paintings aren’t of anything in particular, just shapes and splatters. The man smiles, examining one closer. He likes them.

Chan continues to walk until he stumbles upon a smaller room, a bed room. This room isn’t as clean as the rest of the house, clothes askew on the floor, art supplies littering the nightstand. Chan isn’t off put by the mess, instead he walks in further. This must be the right place. 

Chan walks over to the bed, eyeing the large lump fo blankets on the mattress. Ah. The man walks over to the bundle of white, gently sitting down on the bed that sits on the floor, only a few inches off the ground. Multiple fluffy pillows and blankets lay scattered, sheets messed and ruffled. 

Theres a slight sniffling from under the blanket, the mound gently shaking. It makes Chan’s heart twist in his chest, frown deepening on his features. Poor boy. He’s probably been through so much. He sits there for a moment in silence, letting the boy cry in piece. He knows the other man knows he’s there. He still cries. Chan listens patiently.

Eventually, the sniffles and whines die down a bit, until theres just soft breathing, the occasional shudder sounding.

“It hurts being so lonely, doesn’t it?” Chan asks in a calm, quiet voice. The mound doesn’t respond. Chan continues anyways.

“I know how that feels, being the odd one out, not knowing where to fit in. I mean, I don’t really look like you’re everyday reaper.” Chan chuckles quietly do himself, looking at his ocean blue and white sweater, cuffed light blue jeans and black boots. His hair is a dark brown, curly and ruffled. No, he defiantly doesn’t fit the stereotype for grim reapers. Black clothing, notepad on hand… But does he need to? He’s still the best at what he does. So what does it matter?

“You know, I used to be just like you.” He sighs, leaning to support himself on his knees, curling them up to his chest to lay his arms across them. “A lost spirit. I didn’t want to leave my memories, my home. It was too much for me.” The mound is staying perfectly still now, Chan can see what he assumes to be his head turn to look at him. He smiles.

“Yeah. I was saved by another reaper. She’s taught me everything I know, one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. She got me to see that you can’t move anywhere if you’re constantly worried about losing what you were. If thats so, you can never become the person your meant to be, grow and develop as a person. If you cling to your past, there can’t be a bright future.” Chan stares wistfully at the wall in front of him, small smile creeping up his lips.

“I’m much happier now. I thought I could never be happy if I left what used to be mine. But now I’m free to roam, I get to help people… I get to meet people like you.” The pile of blankets sniffles again, slightly moving up into a sitting position, blanket still over his head. Chan looks back at him, that soft smile turning into a grin.

“Your house is very pretty, I can see why you love it so much.” The boy nods slowly while bringing a blanket-covered hand to wipe at his nose. He looks so heartwarmingly cute. Chan’s glad he’s making some progress with him. Honestly, he seems like an exceedingly sweet boy. Just a bit lost, needing a little nudge on the right path. He decides to keep conversation going.

“I see a bunch of paintings and art supplies around here, do you like to paint? Did you do the paintings in the hall?” The blanket nods again, this time a little more energetic with his movements. “ They’re very pretty. Can you do a piece for me? Or maybe show me how? I’ve never been great at painting.” The boy hesitates, seeming a bit anxious. He ends up agreeing in the end, going to stand up from the messy bed. Chan follows. 

The boy still doesn’t take the white sheet off his head, too shy to show his real face. Chan doesn’t mind, he can take his time. They make their way to the hall Chan had walked down earlier, the sheet boy stopping at the bottle of blue paint. He leans down to grasp it in his clothed hands.

Theres a glass pane leaned up at the end of the hallway, and the boy waddles over to it with the paint clutched to his chest. Chan follows, looking at the pane with curiosity. The ghost-looking boy points to it. Chan raises an eyebrow, also pointing to it. The boy nods his head, handing him the blue paint. Chan takes it from him, still highly confused. Does he want him to paint the glass?

“I’m sorry, can you help me understand?” The boy nods, reaching out to take the paint back. The boy shakily sticks his hands out from the sheet, going to pop the cap. Chan catches a glimpse at the multi-colored sweater he’s wearing, all soft colored and neutral. He matches with everything else in this house.

The elder watches curiously as the boy puts some of the paint in the palm of his hand, no paint brush, just his hand. He walks up to the glass, pressing his palm flat against it, blue paint squishing in-between his fingers. He gently smears it a bit before backing up, offering the paint to Chan. The elder holds out his own hand, watching as the boy squeezes some paint onto his large palm.

“Just like you did? Is this how you express emotion?” He asks. The boy nods, more eagerly then Chan’s ever seen. Interesting. All his paintings seem to be blue, and now that Chan looks at the abstract art, he can see the emotion behind each piece. 

Chan smiles while he evenly distributes the paint on his hand, before pressing his hand flat against the cool glass, right next to where the other did his. He copies the ghosts movement, smearing his hand around a bit before backing away. He can already feel the paint uncomfortably drying to his skin, but right now it doesn’t really matter.

“Thank you, for letting me do this” The reaper spoke, “Its beautiful. Thank you for letting me see.” The ghost looks down at the floor, shoulders dropping as if he’s disappointed. He shakes his head no.

“No? Are you ok?” Once again, he shakes his head no. 

“Well, whats wrong?” The boy stays still for a moment, as if contemplating something. Whatever it was, he seems to come to a conclusion. 

His blue-stained hand reaches up for the sheet, slowly dragging it up to pull it off. The sheet drops to the floor, and Chan finally gets a good-look at the boy in front of him. 

His hair is a light blonde, darker at the roots from where its grown out. His features are defined, yet soft. Like his sharp jaw, contrasting against soft, small lips. His long angled nose, contrasting against round, curious eyes. He wears a neutral multicolored, soft sweatshirt. Blue jeans, and white long socks. He’s short, broad, small. He looks extremely shy, avoiding eye contact with the elder as he fiddles with his hands.

“You’re very handsome.” Chan comments, smiling at the boy. The boy blushes, smile looking like a slight smirk.

“My names Chan, by the way.” 

“Uh, Changbin.” The boy says softly, hardly able to be heard. 

“Well Changbin,” Chan takes the boys smaller hand in his own, goin to wrap both hands around it. “May I ask why you’ve turned so many reapers around? Why has no one gotten to you?” Changbin tears up, moving his hand that isn’t being held to wipe a stray tear off his face.

“I guess I’m too difficult.” He sniffles. Chan’s heart breaks slightly, face falling.

“You’re not too difficult. People just don’t try hard enough. You’re a very sweet and kind boy, its the others fault they don’t see that in you.” Changbin looks up at Chan with those big doe eyes, brimmed with tears. 

“But I don’t want to leave, they keep giving up on me. I really don’t want to leave, Chan. They know that and thats why they leave.”

“Those are your human emotions, Changbin.” Chan tries to explain. He brings the boys hand up to his own chest. He’s cold to the touch, no life or blood pumping through his veins anymore, just the remnants of what he used to be.

“Those emotions are good. They show us how to love, how to grow connections, how to be sad, and to yearn for something greater… But they also hold feelings of worry. Resentment. Greed.” 

“I don’t want those emotions anymore, please Chan.” He starts crying, the tears freely running down his cheeks.

“I know.” The man sighs, pulling Changbin into his chest. He wraps his arms under Changbin’s arms and around his back, rubbing near his neck to try and sooth him. Changbin cries freely into his sweater, body shaking slightly as his shirt grows damp with tears.

“Its ok, its ok.” He whispers gently, chin going to rest on the top of the younger boys head. “You’ve been through a lot, its ok to cry.” They stay standing in the hallway for a few minutes, Changbin sobbing into Chan’s sweater, Chan holding Changbin, letting him spill all his deep emotions. 

Its when the boy starts to calm down that the reaper speaks up again.

“Do you want me to show you how you can be free?” Changbin pulls his face out of Chan’s chest, looking up at him. He nods slowly, sniffling slightly.

“It would mean leaving this place behind, are you ok with that?” The ghost stills, looking down at the floor in uncertainty. Could he let this place go? He’s been holding on for so long.

“I know a family who would love this place. They have a little boy and girl. I’m sure they’d love to grow up in the same space you did, carry on your legacy. Would you like that, Bin?” The boy takes a second to process his words, but eventually nods. That does sound nice.

“Then would you like to come with me? I have the perfect place for you, where you can finally let go and be happy.”

“Would I ever see you again?” He asks, lips formed in a wobbly pout. Chan smiles with a loving warmth.

“Of course. I’d visit whenever I could. And maybe if you’d like in the future, I can show you what it takes to be a reaper.”

“Would I get to help people? Like this?” Chan nods. 

Changbin lets a smile onto his face. “I think I’d like that. Very much.”

“Well then, shall we?” Chan asks, opening his arm to lead the boy down the hallway. Changbin takes in a shuddering breath, straightening his back as he walks down the way with him. This is happening, finally. He’s finally leaving the house after years upon years of attachment. He’s really letting it all go.

Chan gently guides him down the stairs, his socked feet treading lightly. When they reach the door, Changbin tenses slightly.

“Are you ready?” The reaper questions. Changbin nods firmly. He suddenly feels certain about this.

Chan pushes the front door open, and they’re immediately met with the sounds of the outdoors. The grass rustling as he steps out onto it, birds singing their tunes into the bright day, trees waving hello and rustling their sweet greetings. 

Changbin almost starts crying, knees wanting to buckle. He forgot how beautiful everything was. His attachment to his house has blinded him to real beauty.

“Thank you,” Changbin sobs, turning around to squeeze Chan in the tightest hug he can give. The reaper can’t breath for a moment, but lets the boy hug him fiercely. 

“Of course.” He whispers back. 

Changbin cries tears of joy. He’s allowed to explore wherever he likes, roam wherever he pleases. He’s free. All thanks to the odd grim reaper that decided to visit him.

**Author's Note:**

> Wish ghost Binnie luck on his journey~
> 
> feedback is appreciated


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